HEALTH ECONOMIC SAVINGS OF SINGLE USE FLEXIBLE ENDOSCOPES VS CURRENT RE-USABLE ENDOSCOPES AND DISPOSABLE SHEATH SYSTEMS

Deepak Kumar Sahu, MBA¹, Giacomo Basadonna, MD, PhD². ¹Alira Health, ²University of Massachusetts Medical School

Introduction: The transmission of endoscopy-associated infections is frequently linked to inadequate reprocessing. Regulatory organizations including FDA have published reprocessing guidelines resulting in an increase of associated time and costs. Flexible single use endoscopes represent the solution to complex re-processing procedures and also create significant cost savings to the health care system

Methods and Procedures: Multi-society guidelines published in the US post 2015 for reprocessing endoscopes are analyzed and the cost of various materials is collected from vendors and published literature. A cost minimization model is designed taking into consideration different material and labor cost related to the endoscopic procedure. A sensitivity analysis on healthcare savings has been performed considering the number of procedures per re-usable endoscopic system (Flexible Endoscope (Reusable), LCD Display, Video Processor, Monitor, Maintenance Unit, Water Leakage Tester, Contained Vented Enclosure, Endoscopy Cabinet, Transport and Storage System, Alcohol) and its average replacement time.  

Results:

Table 1: Health Economic Analysis of Single Use Flexible Endoscope vs Reusable Endoscope and Disposable Sheath System

Table 2: Cost Savings of Single Use Flexible Endoscope vs Reusable Endoscope and Disposable Sheath System / Procedure

Conclusion: Considering a replacement time of 3 years / endoscopic system and 350 procedures / endoscopic system per year, a single use flexible endoscope costs to hospital is $426.11/ procedure in contrast to $687.01/procedure for reusable endoscope and $550.30/ procedure for disposable sheath system resulting in cost saving of $261 and $124 / procedure respectively. Our analysis indicates that even reducing number of procedures and increasing the replacement timeline of reusable endoscope, single use flexible endoscopes at $400/ procedure are cost effective.

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Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.

Abstract ID: 95748

Program Number: S094

Presentation Session: Flexible Endoscopy I

Presentation Type: Podium